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Welcome to my blog. I write short stories, free verse poetry and give advice on writing. Have a nice read.
Welcome to my blog. I write short stories, free verse poetry and give advice on writing. Have a nice read.
CHAPTER ONE
[Introduction]
In the Fall of 2010, Brigadier General, Xavier Holsterman, Army, Retired, age 93, taught a class entitled, The Mind of War, at The Atlantic Military Institute, a military school located on the shores of Chesapeake Bay. Once a week, for one semester, inside the small auditorium of Washington Hall, The General stood alone on a stage. He looked out at an assembly of 237 cadets seated before him, their desks rising in stair-stepping rows, sloping higher-and-higher toward the exits at the back of the large room.
The students were the scholastic equivalents of high school sophomores, and these cadets were in their first year at The Academy, freshly matriculated in, all holding the academy’s military rank of Private.
The Mind of War was an elective course. The class was not required for graduation and not every first year student had chosen to take it. Roughly, seventeen percent of the first year Privates were enrolled in The Mind of War, and as the semester progressed, the class’s workload and subject material weighed heavily on the students. Some cadets wished they had enrolled in a less time consuming elective. A few students came to believe that The Mind of War was the most important class they had ever taken.
The course consisted of one three-hour period, once a week, every Friday morning. The General gave seventeen lectures during the semester, and these lectures were supplemented with required readings, essay assignments, midterms, and a final exam. All assignments were designed by The General himself. No multiple choice questions were ever given. No short answers were ever accepted. It was The General’s desire to increase the awareness, understanding and comprehension of the subject material, (that subject being Psychological Warfare) and due to this, the General felt multiple-choice questions and simple two-to-three sentence answers were inappropriate. “Life is complicated, Cadets,” The General once stated during a lecture. “And rote memorization and regurgitation of facts is the simpleton’s path to education.” The General stated this after a rather loud moan of dismay escaped from the lips of several of his students when a homework assignment was given.
The General had designed his course not as one with straightforward objectives or goals to meet throughout the semester. He had designed it as a mental voyage. The General continually pushed his students to think deeply, critically reason, and hopefully, increase their abilities of analytical judgement and personal illumination. “Getting people to all think the same thing is easy,” The General said. “Getting people to think for themselves is exceptionally difficult.”
Unlike most of the instructors at The Academy, The General was not a teacher. He possessed no teaching degree, license or training. He was only granted his position (without pay) after a very large donation found its way into The Academy’s coffers. The General did, however, possess multiple degrees from prestigious universities, specifically, Ph.D.’s in the fields of Psychology and Biochemistry, a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering, and a Medical Doctorate specializing in Psychopharmacology. The General had also been a guest lecturer multiple times at various war colleges around the world.
For most of The General’s life, he had practiced what he taught in his classroom. As a young and middle-aged man, he had excelled within the military intelligence community, performing research-and-development on classified projects, and toward the end of his career, he had worked in the field as an operations commander. With concern for his course, The Mind of War, The General was considered by many military minds to be the western world’s premier expert in the field of Psychological Warfare, and perhaps it was because of this, this high regard, The General’s exalted esteem, and his long career within Military Intelligence which explains the choices in the subject material he lectured on, subjects most would deem unsuitable to teach to what most would consider children. Possibly, The General’s intentions were clandestine and secret and only known to himself? The world will never know, but regardless of his reasons, in his class, The Mind of War, The General did not hold back.
[Lecture One: Excerpt—Forbidden Frontier]
The General stood on stage behind a lectern and spoke.
“If we have learned anything from warfare, it is this: The battlefield extends beyond saber, musket and canon, mustard gas and machine gun, tanks, aircraft-carriers, jets, nuclear warheads, the Weather Gauge, and even exotic, High-Energy Weapons. Our battlefield extends beyond this physical realm and reaches straight into the minds of every soul on this planet. This battlefield may divided or unified toward victory or peril.”
The General scanned the auditorium.
“To put it simply, Cadets, a bullet can tear a body and take a life. Taking lives is easy, and any commander can tell you this. But the sole purpose of warfare is not necessarily to kill your enemy… It is to force your enemy into submission. To control them. To guide them under your will. That is war…”
The General lifted his palms.
“In a way, we make our enemies cry uncle and perform what we command.”
The General dropped his hands, stepped out from behind the podium, and stood beside it, leaning on its edge of lacquered wood.
“Ironically, what is commanded is usually something an enemy’s population would willfully do, even enthusiastically do, because it could be made in their best interests to do so… However, for the leaders and controllers of these populations, this is a major transgression. It is a threat to Their Power over Their People, and hence, this is why war happens in the first place. You will learn all about this in your studies here at The Academy.”
The General glanced at the lectern and checked his notes.
“Now, let’s talk about what else you need to be learning… You need to study new technologies, Cadets. Developed and developing, cutting edge, computer technologies, surveillance technologies, microbiological technologies, nano technologies…”
The General tucked his hands into his pockets and began strolling the stage.
“You need to study easily hidden technologies, Cadets. Covert technologies. Hidden technologies…”
The General stopped and stood at the front of the stage.
“Subversive Technologies.”
The General scanned the students. All were paying attention.
“Our world has advanced to a point where nay a bullet or bomb might be fired or dropped. Our battlefield is no longer the stricken desert suburb, the rural European forest, or the burning jungle… Our new battlefield, a once Forbidden Frontier, lies inside the human skull… It is The Mind, Cadets. That's what I'm talking about. The Mind!...
“The Brain can now be hacked and controlled to a degree previously thought unimaginable, and all of you—And I mean every single one of you sitting in this auditorium—have been effected by it. You have been brainwashed, controlled, and coerced, to some degree, by foreign powers and domestic ones for your entire lives, these powers influencing your own personal beliefs, individual psychologies, your actual perception of reality… I am sorry to tell you this. I hate telling you this! But the bullets and bombs of our new battlefield, The Brainscape, they have been firing and dropping for a long, long time.”
The General walked back to the podium, stepped behind it, and gripped its edges.
“Only a few of you might understand exactly what I am talking about right now. Either by some type of observational humility, or through some type of pattern recognition brilliance, can most uninitiated perceive it.”
The General scanned.
“Do any of you know what I am talking about?”
The General raised a hand to his ear, cupping his palm and listening to the auditorium. Every Cadet sat silently. None knew how to respond.
“No?… I didn't think so.” The General dropped his hand. “Let's do a history lesson!”
[Lecture One: Excerpt—Mass Communications]
The General walked across the stage, cleared his throat, and leaned and elbow onto a podium.
“In the 1440s the Printing Press was invented. It was the first time in accepted history where collections of documents, such as books, manuscripts, The Bible, or agricultural guides could be copied quickly and distributed. This was the beginning of Mass Communications, Cadets. That is, it was the beginning of communication to masses of people through a medium not limited by immediate, spacial proximity.
“These printed documents could be made in abundance and travel far-and-wide, away from their source, all while maintaining the information they held. The Printing Press technology would eventually give rise to the sporadic city transcript, and later, the newspaper, journal, magazine and novel, the weathervanes of the educated.
“It changed the world, Cadets, and The Printing Press was the spark that enflamed the Renaissance and fed the First Industrial Revolution. Later, another invention would send Mass Communications to its next level. This would not occur until the 1800s.”
The General read his notes.
“Electrical Telegraphy became common by the 1880s. Symbolic code was sent through copper wire and interpreted by Receivers at a distant locations. These, Receivers, at first people and later mechanical devices, decrypted the code back into common language, and no longer would printed documents need to endure long physical journeys from their origins. Now, information could be sent through wire, instantly, deciphered on the delivery sight and then distributed to the appropriate audiences at far away locations.
“The next leap in Mass Communications occurred in 1920 with the first radio broadcast of News. Not long after this, radio broadcasts of music and sporting events became common, and Radio Receivers would eventually be made available at affordable prices. This gave birth of Entertainment Programming, and radio shows would begin their reign over the cultural landscape. Families would sit and enjoy an evening of communal listening… Bars, nightclubs, restaurants, all played the daily baseball games, the nightly boxing matches, the romantic songs of love and change, along with what pack of cigarettes to buy. Automobiles would soon become the property of the common man, and radio receivers would be installed in every one of them.”
The General stopped reading his notes and scanned the auditorium.
“Cadets, some of the greatest moments of my life were spent blasting down a desert highway at night, listening to whatever sounds my car’s radio could pick-up out of the aether. It was a freedom so great and a joy so pure, I can hardly describe it.”
The General looked at the floor as the Cadets watched and waited for him to continue.
“The power of Motion Pictures would not be fully realized until the 1940s, long after the invention of The Television. TVs were initially expensive and incredibly bulky. They had minuscule screens and their initial programming was similar to radio broadcasts. But as the enjoyability of the viewing experience increased, the Television eventually dethroned Radio as the dominant force in our culture.
“Nightly news programs informed the public more thoroughly with visual aid. Entertainment Programming, once held back by the limitations of radio, could now charge forward into new territory. Talk shows sprang forth to give context to what was deemed important to give context to. Variety shows, sitcoms, cartoons, soap operas, all would become dominant forces over the social norms of culture, and all of it was provided with an experience, never-seen-before, inside the sanctity of the home.
“By the mid 1960s, Television over took Radio as the cultural Mecca, but Radio never strayed too far behind. The reason for this is simple. A Television requires Direct Attention, that is, time spent viewing the device, whereas Radio is experienced atmospherically, or Environmentally. When combined, however, the two media are formidable and provide powerful tools for social and psychological influence.
“I suggest thinking of the two in this manner: The Television is like a surgeons scalpel, precisely cutting into an individual’s psyche. Whereas, Radio, is like a medication, effecting the psyche through dosage over time. Both have their value and place, and when combined, their powers of influence have stood unchallenged only until recent history… Does that make sense to any of you?”
The General scanned the students. The Cadets sat still, watching and listening, unsure of why the General was lecturing about Mass Communications. This was supposed to be a course on Psychological Warfare. The General continued.
“Satellite relays in the 1960s and 70s allowed radio and television broadcasts to truly go global, to be heard and viewed from anywhere on the planet at the same time. And with this major milestone now accomplished, one source could communicate with all regions of the globe simultaneously. Time would pass before the next major invention would push Mass Communications to its next level. The next invention was The Internet… It started in the 80s and came from our own military.”
Students jotted the simple note down on notebook paper as the General continued.
“The Public Internet, however, began in the 1990s, here in America, around the time of your birth. It was built on the established infrastructure of phone lines which made the initial experience slow and cumbersome. Existing lines were ill-equipped for the data transfer needed, and to compensate, fiberoptic cable began filling the void and stitching the landscape. Image boards and chatrooms spawned exponentially. The beginnings of online commerce began, especially commerce of the illegal variety. Law enforcement agencies scrambled to catch up in this new digital era, and they are still scrambling. The Internet was the Wild West, and it still is to some degree. What is more important for you to understand is that now, with The Internet, the behaviors of individuals online could now be immediately recorded and quantified. Unlike before, with Television and Radio, where-by a program’s influence on a population or demographic could only be estimated at, now, with The Internet’s interconnectivity and its championing of free speech through assumed anonymity, the individual’s reaction to programming and their behaviors afterward were immediately observable. No longer were Program Operators questioning the potency of their efforts. The Potency was immediately observable.”
The General scanned the auditorium.
“In case you do not know what I am talking about, Cadets, what I am saying is this… There were-and-are No Secrets online… Users are recorded, with or without their consent, and Data, the New Gold of a New Gold Rush, was-and-is the pursuit.”
The General tucked his hands in his pockets and began strolling the stage. Several of the Cadets squinted.
“Seeing the limitations of at-home desktop data-collection, emerging tech-companies began investing large sums of money into venture capitalism. Few could see it at the time, but those who could, knew that Personal Data was Gold, and they allocated their resources for the production of new devices that would allow for easier and more dynamic access to that gold. This gave birth to the Smartphone and Tablet and an explosion in the gaming industry. Resources were also vested into heightening the enjoyment of the online experience, understanding from the very beginning, that the longer an individual stayed online, the greater the amount of data could be mined.
“Online gathering places bedazzled the web. These Social Media Platforms encouraged user-to-user interaction, generating Cults of Personality to follow and adore, or follow and detest, and all of this occurred while platforms required its users to divulge personal information, identifying characteristics, even physical locations. And to this day, these platforms continue this practice. They record mouse clicks, comments, track purchases and shopping habits. They target users with questionnaires and polls and employ tactics designed to glean political leanings, religious beliefs, moral boundaries, and even intellectual capabilities.”
The General scanned the auditorium. The Cadets were all paying attention. Several were nodding their heads as if they already knew what the General was lecturing about. The General continued.
“I have brought us up to the present day with concern for Mass Communications, and I appreciate your patience.”
The General smiled.
“I’ll give a few words on what the future holds. It should be of interest to you.”
The General cleared his throat and walked to the front of the stage.
“The next step in the climb of Mass Communications involves the uplinking of the human mind directly into the communications apparatus. No device interference, no punching keys and giving passwords. It will be a simple consent of the mind, or No Consent at all, just direct access into a river of information.”
The General scanned the auditorium.
“Right now, it is 2010, and the technologies involved with such a phase change are already in development. There are real-world, living-exhibits that prove the concept. This is not science fiction, Cadets. This is not a comic book. This is not a movie. It is the next step.”
The General sighed and paused for a moment scanning the students.
“Now… I want you to ask yourself this question, ‘Why is this old man giving me a Mass Communications history-lesson as his first lecture in a course that is supposed to be about Psychological Warfare?”
The General looked at the auditoriums back rows.
“The reason is… You need to understand some things… You need to understand that one day, you will need to make a choice. This choice will decide the future of our species. And you will have to choose which side you will be on and what you will be fighting for… I know that might sound stark and cryptic, Cadets, but The Day is coming. It is coming and it will be here before you know it… And it will be your choice.